Winter & Spring 2017

Effective January 2017, all courses and workshops will be held at our new location @cSpace King Edward, Suite T403, 1721, 29th Ave SW, Calgary, AB

Whether you’re a brand new writer or have been writing for years, we have courses and workshops to meet your needs. There are weekly courses for the writer who requires structure, support and that needed push, or one day and weekend workshops for those who are unable to commit to a longer course.

Please note, unless otherwise specified, all non-member rates for courses and workshops include a one-year membership to AWCS. If you’re a non-member registering for multiple courses, please select the Member Option on the registration page and purchase a membership along with your courses in order to receive the member rate for your courses.

Spring Feature Workshop - Perilous Realms

Perilous Realms

Thomas Wharton

Saturday

10am-4:30pm

March 25, 2017

Member Price: $160

Non-member Price: $200

Transform the everyday with the extraordinary. Delve into myth and folktale to find iconic images and powerful plots. Build entire worlds and populate them with believable beings. Cast spells of words over readers young and old.

Find out how much more there is to the realm of fantasy than just wizards and fairies. This workshop will plunge you into imaginary lands and alternate worlds, open your writing to new possibilities and new challenges, and answer your burning questions about writing truly fantastic fiction.

Saturday, March 25, 2017 | 10am-4:30pm

Fort Calgary, JOW Gallery (750, 9th Ave SE)

Coffee, tea, light lunch of soup and sandwiches provided.

About Thomas Wharton

… is a writer of fiction for adults and younger readers.

His first novel, Icefields, won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Best First Book, Canada/Caribbean division. His second novel, Salamander, was short-listed for the Governor-General’s Literary Award and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. A collection of short fiction, The Logogryph, published in 2004, was shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

Thomas Wharton has also written a YA fantasy trilogy, The Perilous Realm, an eco-fiction, Every Blade of Grass, and a book for children, Rutherford the Time-travelling Moose. His work has been published in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and other countries. He lives near Edmonton and teaches creative writing at the University of Alberta.

The Creative Process

The Personal Pen

Anne Metikosh

February 12, 2017

10-12pm

Member Price: $5

Non-member Price: $15

There’s a lot of noise out there. If you want to be heard above the din, you can’t just speak louder – you need to show the world you have something to say and a unique way of saying it. You don’t talk like anyone else; why should you write like anyone else? Join us for a discussion of voice and style and how to develop yours.

Crowpicking

Vivian Hansen

February 22, 2017

10-1pm

Member Price: $25

Non-member Price: $35

The great characteristic of crows is to collect little treasures, preferablyshiny things, to line their nests. What items do you hold as smalltreasures that line your nest? Collections like hockey cards, sportsequipment, knitting, jewelry, nic-nacs, shoes, and many more, are all thingsthat we might value, for reasons we may never have explored. Using some ofthese items in our writing practice can lift a focus in any genre. Pickyour Thing and come to his workshop, where we will explore writing aroundour crowpickings.

*membership not included

Mining Journals and Writing Notebooks for Inspiration

Carrie Mumford

February 26, 2017

10-12pm

Member Price: $5

Non-member Price: $15

Many writers carry a notebook, jot down ideas on random snippets of paper or napkins, or habitually journal. But how many go back to these scrawlings later for inspiration? We’ll discuss the advantages of going back over your notes – no matter how old they are – and strategies for using them to create new material.

*membership not included

Surviving & Thriving Through Rejection

Carrie Mumford

March 5, 2017

10-12pm

Member Price: $5

Non-member Price: $15

It’s part of the writing life, but that doesn’t make it any easier: rejection stings. Come discuss your best and worst rejections, and strategies for moving beyond them. Or, if you’ve yet to face rejection, come hear from those of us who have!

*membership not included

Writing the Rainbow

Sarah Johnson

March 12, 2017

10-12pm

Member Price: $5

Non-member Price: $15

LGBTQ+ folks are everywhere and if art imitates life, eventually you’ll have a character turn up queer. Join us for a discussion that will inspire, enlighten, and add some colour to your story.

*membership not included

Postcard Stories

Irene Naested

March 19, 2017

1-3pm

Member Price: $5

Non-member Price: $15

Participants will create collage images on blank card stock postcard and develop a story stimulated by the image they have created on the reverse.

*membership not included

Automatism

Irene Naested

March 26, 2017

1-3pm

Member Price: $5

Non-member Price: $15

Automatic drawing and writing. Collaborative art and writing over coffee just like the Paris Surrealist authors and artists.

*membership not included

Naughty Bits

Sarah Johnson

April 2, 2017

10-1pm

Member Price: $25

Non-member Price: $35

From the indecent to the poignant, the awkward to the omigod. Come prepared for a down and dirty discussion on the art of writing sex. Writing may occur.

*membership not included

Poetry Prompts

Laurie Fuhr

April 9, 2017

10-12pm

Member Price: $5

Non-member Price: $15

How do published poets across Canada write poetry when the mojo’s flowing slow? For this discussion, we’ve asked many. Pick up some inspiring poetry prompts for Poetry Month and share yours.

* membership not included

Write Nite

Write Nite ~ Captive on a Carousel

Maraya Loza Koxahn

Friday

7-9pm

December 9, 2016

Member Price: $15

Non-member Price: $30

Grab a glass of wine (or other beverage), a pen and paper and join us one Friday night per month.

Once each month, spend two hours with kindred spirits, a glass of wine, a pen and paper. There will be nightly themes and you will be given prompts to focus your writing but disregard them if you choose and create something unique. Release your inhibitions, step out of your comfort zone, put a few words together, create evocative images and astonishing characters. Write something new or hone a current project with support.

Guidance is available but this is not a course; there will be no lessons. Only prompts focused on the theme. The purpose is to help you loosen your shackles a little to unleash you inner awesome author. Write, drink, nibble, share, laugh, play and have some fun creating.

All snacks and beverages provided. You only need to bring pen and paper. Everyone welcome!

NOTE: THIS WILL BE OUR LAST EVENT AT OUR CURRENT LOCATION!!!!

4 Week Courses

Plan, Build & Launch Your Author Website (8 Seats Available)

Carrie Mumford

Tuesdays

7-9:30pm

March 7, 2017
(4 weeks)

Member Price: $120

Non-member Price: $180

So you know you need an author website, but where do you start? In this 4-week course you will create and launch your own site. You’ll get an in-depth understanding of what makes a good website, why it’s important to have one, and get hands-on experience building one. We’ll use WordPress.com, a free tool, to build your site.

You will:

Learn about the characteristics of a good website

Create a layout and content plan for your site

Learn how to choose and purchase a URL (website address)

Learn how to use WordPress.com

Write a stellar ‘About Me’ page

Analyse site traffic, find out who’s visiting & why

Actually create your own website!

This course is open to all skill levels. We ask that you bring a laptop that can connect to the internet so you can build your site in class.

Carrie Mumford is a fiction writer and senior marketing manager at a Canadian tech company. When she’s not working on her novel, she spends her time helping authors and editors create WordPress websites that work.

Second Draft (8 Seats Available)

Maraya Loza Koxahn

Mondays

7-9:30

April 3, 2017
(4 weeks)

Member Price: $120

Non-member Price: $180

You’ve finally spilled your entire first draft onto the page. Now it’s time to clean it up. We will review the essential elements of a story/novel. This will include structure, character development, and dialogue (referencing Master STORY Doctor Robert McKee). We will discuss common errors, better word choices, critiquing, formatting, and proper punctuation practices. Students must have work ready to bring to the first class and agree to do the homework – which will involve editing each others’ work as well as your own.

No class April 17, 2017 for Easter Monday.

Blogging 101 (10 Seats Available)

Carrie Mumford

Tuesdays

7-9:30pm

April 4, 2017
(4 weeks)

Member Price: $120

Non-member Price: $180

In this 4-week course you will create and launch your own blog. We’ll cover everything you need to know about blogging, from chosing a topic for your blog, to planning your posts, and finding readers.

You will:

Narrow in on a topic for your blog

Create a content plan and schedule for yourself

Choose a theme/look for your blog

Learn how to find readers and keep them coming back

Create and launch your blog using WordPress.com

This course is open to all skill levels. We ask that you bring a laptop that can connect to the internet so you can build your site in class.

Carrie Mumford is a fiction writer and senior marketing manager at a Canadian tech company. When she’s not working on her novel, she spends her time helping authors and editors create WordPress websites that work.

8 Week Courses - Evening

Meditative Journaling (Waitlist)

Irene Naested

Mondays

7-9pm

January 9, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $300

Non-member Price: $360

Start the new year, 2017, with inspiration for your words and images…

Art and writing can be a meditative practice. Participants will explore various art materials/media and various methods that stimulate words through poetry and prose. Exercises will inspire words from the images and images from the words.Participants will gain a greater understanding and appreciation of art composition, handling of various art media, poetic/prose genre, and methods of stimulating the ‘blank’ paper/pages ‘syndrome’ including meditative techniques. Each will be given a large hard cover journal.Various art materials/ media will be introduced and used/ provided during the sessions.

Venue: Naested Studio, 1124, 15th St. NW, Calgary

Irene Naested is an artist, published author and a locally and nationally recognized art teacher. She practices Qigong and meditative journaling with word and image.

All art supplies are included in the course fee.

No class on January 30 or February 20.

W – Creative Writing Pen to Paper (9 Seats Available)

Maraya Loza Koxhan

Mondays

7-9pm

January 30, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $180

Non-member Price: $180

Start your story here!

Do you have a story burning inside you? Want to try writing for fun? Creative Writing: Pen to Paper is designed for the brand new writer or hobbyist. Spend 8 weeks learning where ideas come from, how to unlock your creative potential in a new way and bring words and images to the page in a fun and supportive environment. Lots of writing involved.

No experience necessary.

There will be no class on February 20, 2017 for Family Day.

AWCS membership not required.

W – Creative Writing Level I (7 Seats Available)

Olyn Ozbick

Tuesdays

7-9pm

January 31, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $180

Non-member Price: $240

In this eight-week course, you will learn about the free fall method of writing and how it can be a useful tool for all writing. Learn how to create images a reader will remember. Then, using the short story as a model, you will be introduced to the basics of character, plot, dialogue and setting through discussion, free fall writing, practical writing exercises and mutual feedback.

No experience necessary.

W – Mapping a Novel (7 Seats Available)

Anne Metikosh

Wednesdays

7-9pm

February 1, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $180

Non-member Price: $240

You have a great idea. Maybe you’ve dreamed up some dynamite settings and scenes. But how do you turn all the bits and pieces into a novel? You know you need an engaging plot to keep the reader glued to the page. You know your characters have to grow and change. You know your story has to reach an emotionally satisfying conclusion. But you can’t figure out how to get there from here and you’re spending a lot of time spinning your wheels. What you need is a roadmap.

In this class we’ll design a working model for your novel. We’ll discuss the basics, like the value of a three-act structure and why the incidents that make up a plot need to be linked by cause and effect. But we’ll also consider the underlying questions of goal, theme, character motivations and consequences as they relate to the particular story you want to tell. By the end of this course, you should have an integrated plan to follow as you write.

W – Creative Writing Level II (4 Seats Available)

Robin van Eck

Thursdays

7-9:30pm

February 2, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $200

Non-member Price: $260

In Creative Writing Level II, you will expand on what you already learned and go more in depth with the important story elements: character, plot, dialogue, world, flashbacks and more, through discussion, free fall writing, interactive exercises and mutual feedback. Learn about different genres such as literary vs. commercial fiction, creative non-fiction, writing for children and poetry to help focus your path.This class introduces writers to critiquing other’s work and receiving feedback in a practical and supportive atmosphere.

Recommended Prerequisite: Creative Writing Level I or equivalent

Writing Memoir When Your Story is Difficult (9 Seats Available)

Karen Lee

Thursdays

6:30-9:30pm

March 30, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $240

Non-member Price: $300

Do you have a difficult story to tell? Things from your past that you’ve tucked into the back of your memory? More and more, people are realizing that getting those stories down on paper is therapeutic and valuable – the popularity of memoir is exploding. People want real life stories.

This course will focus on three-parts – the writing skills required, the journey of change you want to write about, and having the courage and persistence needed to tackle difficult personal subjects. Self-care will be discussed.

We will tackle dialogue, character sketches, scene setting, and your story arc – using parts of your story you want to tell. These will begin to form the outline of your memoir.

If you are interested in engaging in the often therapeutic task of memoir writing, start a retrospective journal now – jot down those memories, however small and fleeting, in a notebook, compile pictures of the past, or assemble meaningful objects. Then bring these to class.

Going public with stories from real life is completely different from getting your story down on paper, so the decision to publish will be discussed.

Karen Lee has a newly published memoir, The Full Catastrophe. You can find out more information on her website.

S – Creative Writing Level II (9 Seats Available)

Olyn Ozbick

Tuesdays

7-9:30pm

March 28, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $200

Non-member Price: $260

In Creative Writing Level II, you will expand on what you already learned and go more in depth with the important story elements: character, plot, dialogue, world, flashbacks and more, through discussion, free fall writing, interactive exercises and mutual feedback. Learn about different genres such as literary vs. commercial fiction, creative non-fiction, writing for children and poetry to help focus your path.This class introduces writers to critiquing other’s work and receiving feedback in a practical and supportive atmosphere.

Recommended Prerequisite: Creative Writing Level I or equivalent

S – The Personal Essay (9 Seats Available)

Ellen Kelly

Thursdays

7-9pm

April 20, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $180

Non-member Price: $240

Do you have true stories to tell? Experiences you would like to share? Skeletons in your closet that you want to write about? Passionate feelings about a subject that you would like to explore? This eight-week course gives participants the opportunity to find deeper meaning in their writing by experimenting with various personal essay formats and through discussion of characterization, scene, narration, theme, voice, truth, and markets/publication. Specific interests of the class participants will be addressed and participants will be encouraged to write both briefly in class and more extensively at home. Sharing is encouraged.

Introduction to Playwriting (10 Seats Available)

Caroline Russell-King

Tuesdays

7-9pm

May 2, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $180

Non-member Price: $240

Join professional playwright Caroline Russell-King, as you discover your playwriting chops. Learn how writing comedy is more than just one-liners and writing drama isn’t just serious prose spoken by serious people! Pull out your idea file or your scribbles and come learn the craft of playwriting. Find out industry tips, discover the secrets of writing and what it takes to get from page to stage!

S – Creative Writing: Pen to Paper (10 Seats Available)

Maraya Loza Koxahn

Mondays

7-9:30

May 8, 2017
(7 weeks)

Member Price: $180

Non-member Price: $180

Start your story here!

Do you have a story burning inside you? Want to try writing for fun? Creative Writing: Pen to Paper is designed for the brand new writer or hobbyist. Spend 8 weeks learning where ideas come from, how to unlock your creative potential in a new way and bring words and images to the page in a fun and supportive environment. Lots of writing involved. No experience necessary.

No class on May 22, 2017 for Victoria Day.

AWCS membership not required.

8 Week Courses - Daytime

Him, Her and Happy Ever After (10 Seats Available)

Victoria Chatham

Tuesdays

10-12pm

February 21, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $180

Non-member Price: $240

Ah. Romance. It warms the heart and engages the senses. From alpha heroes (what is an alpha hero anyway?) to kick-over-the-traces heroines come and discover how to create memorable characters and plot their happy-ever-afters.

Victoria Chatham’s passion for the romance genre goes back to when she read her first Regency romance as a teenager. Now retired, she writes historical and contemporary romance. She lives near Calgary but spends as much time as she can with her family in England.

W – Creative Writing Level I (Daytime) (8 Seats Available)

Madelaine Wong

Wednesdays

10am-12pm

February 22, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $180

Non-member Price: $240

In this eight-week course, you will learn about the free fall method of writing and how it can be a useful tool for all writing. Learn how to create images a reader will remember. Then, using the short story as a model, you will be introduced to the basics of character, plot, dialogue and setting through discussion, free fall writing, practical writing exercises and mutual feedback.

No experience necessary.

Memoir or (M) othering your Self (8 Seats Available)

Vivian Hansen

Thursdays

10-12pm

February 23, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $180

Non-member Price: $240

Writing memoir is a journey in answering questions. Have you ever considered how all the stories in your life reach a point where you need to write about them?How is your story unique?Who could possibly want to read about your life, and why?You don’t know where to start or what information is relevant?What secrets do you want to keep or share?What are you hoarding?In this course we will explore the differences between autobiography, life writing, nature and travel writing – all of which incorporate memoir.

W – Creative Journaling (8 Seats Available)

Maraya Loza Koxahn

Tuesdays

10-12pm

February 28, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $190

Non-member Price: $250

Use the power of journaling for self-discovery. Unlock your creative potential, navigate through loss, deal with illness, work through difficult decisions, express thoughts, emotions & opinions, and just have fun learning some new methods of expression. Connect with your inner voice through writing and art exercises. Your journal is a safe space for expression and transformation, a space to explore your creativity, a space to store your discoveries as a “work of art” just for you.

Each class will include writing and art exercises, free fall writing, and time to incorporate elements into your journal. Some classes may include movement and/or meditation exercises. Please bring a notebook for free fall writing to the first class.

Art supplies included.

Finding a Female Form (8 Seats Available)

J. Jill Robinson

Wednesdays

12-2pm

March 15, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $180

Non-member Price: $240

“Finding A Female Form” explores the question of how and if female writing differs in significant ways from male writing, while simultaneously encouraging women writers to generate and workshop their own distinctive writing. Some questions to be addressed include: Are women more likely to be organic in their writing? Are they less likely than men to “construct” poems, fiction, and creative nonfiction? Are women and men drawn to different material and different perspectives in terms of subject matter, reflected in how and what they write? This course, through discussion, exercises, and workshops, focuses on women’s writing. It will include a visit from a guest woman writer (TBA) who shares her experiences with a more “female” approach to writing and answers your questions. Past participants claim that the dynamic in a group of women writers is very different from one involving both genders—not better or worse, necessarily, simply different—in terms of sensibility and focus; trust, and sense of intimacy.

S – Creative Writing Level II (Daytime) (10 Seats Available)

Madelaine Wong

Wednesdays

10-12:30pm

April 26, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $200

Non-member Price: $260

In Creative Writing Level II, you will expand on what you already learned and go more in depth with the important story elements: character, plot, dialogue, world, flashbacks and more, through discussion, free fall writing, interactive exercises and mutual feedback. Learn about different genres such as literary vs. commercial fiction, creative non-fiction, writing for children and poetry to help focus your path.This class introduces writers to critiquing other’s work and receiving feedback in a practical and supportive atmosphere.

Recommended Prerequisite: Creative Writing Level I or equivalent

Proprioceptive Writing (5 Seats Available)

Vivian Hansen

Thursdays

10-12pm

April 20, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $180

Non-member Price: $240

This course will explore the Proprioceptive Writing method developed by Linda Trichter Metcalf in which you explore the deepest volume of story in your life.Proprioceptive writing has effectively blasted out writer’s block and sent aspiring writers into new and productive creative writing journeys.In this course, we will plan out a secular spiritual journey with your writing.Please note:participants should be working on a manuscript of poetry, creative nonfiction, short story collection, or novel-in-progress.We will explore the proprioceptive method in tandem with your writing project.

The Artist’s Way (10 Seats Available)

Caroline Russell-King

Fridays

12pm-2pm

April 28, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $180

Non-member Price: $240

For all writers and artists. As a group we will work through Julia Cameron’s’ book The Artist Way. We will engage in exercises and activities that spur the imagination and capture new ideas while unblocking obstacles on the path to inspiration and creativity.

8 Week Courses - Poetry

W – Purely Poetry (9 Seats Available)

Susan Plett

Mondays

7-9:30pm

January 30, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $200

Non-member Price: $260

Join Calgary poet, Susan Plett, for eight weeks of all poetry, all the time, and making your words do the work you want them to. Emphasis will be on creating new work and learning to critique and be critiqued.

No class on February 20, 2017 for Family Day.

The Literary Fragment (10 Seats Available)

Joel Farris

Mondays

7-9pm

Begins May 1, 2017
(8 weeks)

Member Price: $180

Non-member Price: $240

In what social and economic conditions do poets begin to theorize the fragment as a purposeful literary form? What relationship does fragmentation have to capitalism? What can fragmentary composition offer our writing practices that cohesive composition cannot? Throughout the course we will explore these questions while moving through different taxonomies of fragmentation: dreams, the body, social media, appropriation, process, and risk. This will engage us in a range of historical periods, beginning in the early nineteenth century through to our contemporary moment.

Though the course will be reading and discussion intensive, an emphasis will be placed on poetry exercises drawn from our collaborative engagement with the texts and with one another. In order to keep the course exploratory, we will not set out to answer our preliminary questions definitively. Rather, by the conclusion of the course, we will be in a position to assess, complicate, and reformulate those questions as they relate to our poetry practices.

*Note, there will be no class on May 22, 2017

10 Week Courses

W – Novel Middles (6 Seats Available)

Dwayne Clayden

Wednesdays

7-9:30pm

February 1, 2017
(10 weeks)

Member Price: $250

Non-member Price: $310

Middles are quite possibly the most ominous part of a novel and commonly the spot where many writers give up, stuffing the project they’ve worked so hard on into a drawer for another day. But will that day ever come?

This course will focus on elements of fiction including rising action, maintaining momentum, story pace and arc, and structure. Learn how to write through those difficult scenes through focused writing exercises, group discussion and workshopping. You will create a rough outline of your novel to help in moving the story forward. Discuss some of the common problems writers face such as writers block, escaping distraction, the busy writer, self-doubt and more.

Participants should have a beginning of a novel on the go.

W – Creative Nonfiction (10 Seats Available)

Ellen Kelly

Thursdays

7-9:30pm

February 2, 2017
(10 weeks)

Member Price: $250

Non-member Price: $310

This ten week course gives participants the opportunity to develop their own true stories creatively. Characterization, scene, narration, theme, voice, truth, story/plot development and publication/markets will be discussed as they apply to CNF. We will spend time exploring personal essay, memoir, literary journalism, blogs, letters to the editor/oped, freelance and more. Specific interests of class participants will be addressed. There may be in-class writing exercises and homework. Sharing is encouraged but never mandatory.

S – The First Three Chapters (8 Seats Available)

Anne Metikosh

Wednesdays

7-9:30pm

March 28, 2017
(10 weeks)

Member Price: $250

Non-member Price: $310

Start as you mean to go on with this 10-week course designed to lay a solid foundation for your book-length manuscript. Instruction will focus on characterization, voice, plot, setting, conflict etc. as they specifically apply to those critical first three pages. While this course includes no formal workshopping, students can expect to share their work as it relates to a variety of writing exercises. By the end of the course, students will have generated a strong and focused beginning to their manuscript and be well poised to continue on their own.

S – Novel Ends (10 Seats Available)

Dwayne Clayden

Wednesdays

7-9:30pm

April 12, 2017
(10 weeks)

Member Price: $250

Non-member Price: $310

You’ve worked through the middle and you’re approaching that pivotal point in your work, the climax. The tension has peaked and now it’s time to wrap up the story. Through writing exercises, group discussion and peer feedback, learn what makes a good ending, how to tie up all those loose ends, climax, resolution, and change. Discuss common problems faced while trying to complete your manuscript.

You should have a significant portion of your novel completed.

10 Week Courses - Daytime

Writing a Play for Lunchbox Theatre (9 Seats Available)

Caroline Russell-King

Tuesdays

12-2:30pm

February 28, 2017
(10 weeks)

Member Price: $250

Non-member Price: $310

A ten-week course designed with the completion of a one act play suitable for submission to Lunchbox Theatre. From the playwright who has had many productions at the longest running noon time theatre in the world! Her last show Mr Fix It was nominated for a Betty Mitchell Theatre Award for Outstanding New Play.

February Workshops

Showing vs. Telling (5 Seats Available)

Susan Forest

Saturday & Sunday

10am-4:30pm

February 25 & 26, 2017

Member Price: $180

Non-member Price: $240

The first “rule” of fiction writing all authors learn is to “show” story events scenically through action, as opposed to “telling” the story. But how is that accomplished? What are the craft techniques that lead to page-turning stories that immerse the reader so he forgets the book in his hands, and lives the story in imagination? And…when is “telling” the tool of choice? This two-day intensive workshop will explore techniques such as time dilation, for interweaving dialogue, internal monologue, description, action and emotion into well-structured, purposeful scenes.

March Workshops

The Body Electric, The Body Eclectic (12 Seats Available)

Maraya Loza Koxahn

March 4, 2017

10-3:30pm

Member Price: $80

Non-member Price: $140

Your body holds all your stories – locked in muscle memory. Sometimes a little supportive nudge is what you need to remember something old, discover something new. Is there a book in you? We will use music, movement, art and writing exercises to help access the subconscious, facilitating self-discovery and bringing forth creative self-expression. No previous art or writing experience is necessary.

Supplies fee included in price.

From Sherlock to the Girl on the Train (10 Seats Available)

Susan Calder

March 11, 2017

10-3:30pm

Member Price: $75

Non-member Price: $135

You want to write a crime novel. What sub-genre suits you best? Suspense, mystery or something else? Should it be a series or standalone book? How do you create compelling sleuths, heroes and anti-heroines; suspects and supporting characters? How do you keep readers turning the pages? Where do you go for technical information and help with revision? When your novel is ready, how do you get it published? This workshop will discuss these questions and more, with writing exercises relevant to crime fiction and any story with an aspect of mystery.

Love movies and thought “Hey, I can write that!”? This workshop will give you essential tools for constructing a screenplay for film. Dig into the elements of structure that include formatting, dialogue, action, and the heart of character development and the story arc. Every genre will be explored to unlock the key features that make great film stories. Grab some popcorn and ideas and join us for a weekend workshop!

Phyllis Heltay is a Calgary award winning screenwriter and playwright. She won a Praxis Screenwriting Fellowship (Simon Fraser University) for the comedy feature screenplay, “Stealing Jesus”, and was a bronze prize winner of the Page International Screenwriting Awards for “Peripheral Vision” a supernatural thriller. Her short drama “Magpie” was a first place winner of the American Gems screenwriting competition, and she has had numerous options with international production companies for her sci-fi and animation scripts. She currently has an independent comedy feature in development to be produced in Canada.

April Workshops

Very Short Poems (9 Seats Available)

Maraya Loza Koxhan

April 8, 2017

10am-3:30pm

Member Price: $75

Non-member Price: $135

Spend the day playing with literary devices and short poem formats to create several miniscule works of great magnitude. Say what you want to say succinctly – both humorously and seriously. Come with ideas for content and your favorite line from a song.

Is There A Play Hiding In My Poem? (10 Seats Available)

Caroline Russell-King

April 1, 2017

10-3:30pm

Member Price: $75

Non-member Price: $135

Shakespeare was a poet and a playwright. Playwrights used to be called poets! Use your poetry as a jumping off place to create monologues, scenes or even a one act play! Join Caroline Russell-King for a one day class on plotting and poetry.

May Workshops

How To Write A 10-Minute Play in Five Hours (10 Seats Available)

Caroline Russell-King

May 6, 2017

10am-3:30pm

Member Price: $75

Non-member Price: $135

10-minute plays are all the rage. Join professional comedy playwright Caroline Russell-King, as you discover your playwriting chops. End the class with a short play! Pull out your idea file or your scribbles and come learn the craft of playwriting.

All ages. All skill levels.

June Workshops

To Write Monologues or Not to Write… (10 Seats Available)

Caroline Russell-King

June 3, 2017

10am-3:30pm

Member Price: $75

Non-member Price: $135

Learn how to master the art of writing dramatic and comedic monologue. Whether your dream is to perform, do stand up, audition or round out your playwriting skills this class is for you. Find out how dramatic monologues and soliloquies differ from prose and story telling. Learn about the tricks and secrets of the trade. This class is also for those interested in writing one person shows.

Youth Programs

RIOCKP Registration

Member Price: $60

Non-member Price: $100

Reality Is Optional Creative Kids’ Programming (RIOCKP) is a multi-group program for youth to connect with each other through writing, art and improv. We strive to foster creativity, community, and youth leadership in an accepting environment. See RIOCKP website for more details.